Global report names Rwanda most dynamic in ICT

The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) 2012 report has named Rwanda among the top six developing countries in the world that are the most dynamic performers in ICT development.

The annual report titled Measuring the Information Society 2012, rank the Republic of Korea as the world's most advanced ICT economy, followed by Sweden, Denmark, Iceland and Finland.

The report shows that ICT uptake continues to grow worldwide, spurred by a steady fall in the price of telephone and broadband internet services.

"The most dynamic performers are primarily from the developing world, and include countries from all regions," reads the report.

Developing nations

Rwanda, Bahrain, Brazil, Ghana, Kenya, and Saudi Arabia are the developing nations with strong dynamic ICT markets due to the fact that, they are catching up quickly in efforts to bridge the so-called 'digital divide'.

The ICT Development Index (IDI) ranks 155 countries' performance with regard to ICT infrastructure and uptake and ICT Price Basket (IPB), a metric that tracks and compares the cost and affordability of ICT services in more than 160 countries globally.

"In the mobile sector, developing countries now account for the lion's share of market growth. Mobile-cellular subscriptions registered continuous double-digit growth in developing country markets, for a global total of six billion mobile subscriptions by end 2011," says the report.

Commenting to the report, Jean Philbert Nsengimana, Rwandan Youth and ICT minister, said the government was glad to be one of the most dynamic countries.

7 places up...

It is reported that Rwanda jumped seven places to 133rd position in 2012 compared to 140th in 2011. ITU's IDI ranks 155 countries according to their level of ICT access, use and skills, and compares 2010 and 2011 scores. All countries in the IDI top 30 are high-income countries, underlining the strong link between income and ICT progress.

There are large differences between developed and developing countries, with IDI values on average twice as high in the developed world compared with developing countries.

The report identifies the group of countries with the lowest IDI levels - so-called 'Least Connected Countries' - and highlights the need for policy makers to pay keen attention to this group.

ITU's 'Measuring the Information Society report' is the most comprehensive statistical and analytical report on the shape of ICT markets worldwide.

Two weeks back United Nations Broadband Commission for Digital Development 2012 report ranked top in East Africa and 7th in Africa among countries with active mobile-broadband subscriptions per 100 inhabitants in 2011.

Rwanda's access to broadband services

Rwanda has laid a 2 500-kilometre national fibre optic cable, which is expected to enhance access to various broadband services in the country and the National Data Centre, that hosts both private and all e-Government facilities, solutions, applications and web services.

The country currently relies on three submarine fibre optic cable systems for internet connection such as the East Africa Submarine Cable System (EASSy), The East African Marine Systems (TEAMS) and SEACOM through local telecommunication companies and Internet Service Providers (ISP's).

The internet service providers in the country include among others MTN Rwanda, Tigo, Airtel, Broadband Systems Corporation, New Artel, RwandaTel and Altech Stream.

The report also shows that the ICT sector has become a major contributor to economic growth. In 2010, global exports of ICT goods accounted for 12% of world merchandise trade, and as much as 20% in developing countries.

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